The Endocrine Society has expanded its 2006 clinical practice guideline on androgen therapy in women.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the society continues to recommend against diagnosing androgen deficiency syndrome in healthy women because “there is a lack of a well-defined syndrome,” with no data correlating androgen levels with certain symptoms.

Among the other recommendations:
• Testosterone therapy (high physiological doses) may help postmenopausal women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. If treated, women should be monitored for androgen excess. (The group notes that physiological testosterone is not available for women in the U.S.)
• Due to limited data, testosterone therapy should not be routinely given for a wide range of other conditions, including infertility, cardiovascular health, and low androgen levels due to hypopituitarism, adrenal insufficiency, or surgical menopause.
• Dehydroepiandrosterone also should not be routinely prescribed for low androgen or other conditions.

Source: Physician First Watch
Author Amy Orciari Herman
Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and An

Full Article on Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism article http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jc.2014-2260